A message from the President

Hi all

Presentation Night
Our 2018 Presentation Night was held on Saturday 1 September at Columbo’s Family Restaurant in Balwyn. This was a great night for those that were able to attend, and we thank Columbo’s, one of our sponsors this year, for the great facilities and venue that they provided.
Specially congratulations to Billy Wilson, winner of the Senior Best and Fairest, Madelyn Davies, winner of the Women’s B&F and Lachlan Imeneo, winner of the Reserves’ B&F. Each count was interesting in its own way; In the Seniors Billy had a close tussle with Jack Cowell who had his seventh Top 4 finish from seven years of Senior footy. In the Women’s B&F Maddie Davies was a run a way winner averaging over 11 votes a round out of a maximum 15 available. A truly outstanding effort. In the Reserves only four votes separated the top three in what was a very close count.

We were also privileged to be able to present Jamie Gunn with his VAFA Umpires Association award recognising his outstanding achievement of having umpired 500 Games, including more than 20 grand finals. Jamie is a past player with the Bullants and was this year our home umpire for reserves games as well as a regular umpire for our Women’s games.

Encouragement Awards: These are given to younger players that we believe display the on and off field attributes that will make them future leaders of the club. This year these went to Patrick Moio and Rachel Traplin.

The Best Clubperson award this year was presented to Andrew Sartori. Anyone that has been around the club over the last few years will know that this is extremely well-deserved recognition for someone that seems to be involved in everything. Andrew was heavily involved in sponsorship and grants work this year, as a past Treasurer he assisted our current Treasurer in her first year in the role, he was Bar Manager and on top of that was often seen on the end of a broom helping to clean the rooms. Thank you, Andrew, for all the work you do around the club.

VAFA Awards:

This year two of our players had their outstanding performances recognised by the VAFA by being named in the Division 2 Team of the Year, congratulations to Billy Wilson, who was named on the wing and to David Dakin who was named as a rover. Billy Wilson was also finished third equal in the Division 2 Best and Fairest, a great result backing up his winning run in the club B&F.

Coaching Appointments:
We are pleased to announce that Harry Urwin has been reappointed as coach of our Senior Women’s team for what will be his third year at the helm. Many of you may not know but we were one of the VAFA’s foundation women’s clubs in 2017 and Harry has taken a fledgling side, we had four women at the first pre-season training for the 2017 year, to a side that in 2018 had a chance to play finals until the last couple of rounds, beating the eventual premiers in the process. We look forward to a successful 2019 to continuing the development of women’s football at the Bullants.

We are also delighted to appoint Declan McLaughlin as coach of our Under 19s team for 2019. Declan has played football to Under 19 level with Old Marcellin, has been assistant coach to Peter Daicos at Kew Rovers and was this year assistant coach for the Greythorn Kew combined Colts side. He also has several years coaching experience in cricket, holding Level 2 accreditation, and has recently been appointed Head Junior Coach for North Balwyn Cricket Club. Declan has completed a Bachelor of Sports Development from Deakin University and currently works for the Collingwood Football Club developing football programs for schools. The Committee is pleased to have found a coach as well credentialed as Declan to lead our Under 19 program, something that we see as critical to the long-term success of the club.
We are currently in the process of interviewing potential Senior Coaches and have several worthy applications under consideration. Tim Merrett and Jade Rawlings join me on the selection panel and I am confident that we will be able to announce our new coach within the next couple of weeks. We will consider the appointment of a Reserves’ Coach once the Senior appointment has been made.

Players Reviews:
We have recently undertaken end of season reviews with both the Women’s and Men’s playing group and it was pleasing to note the enthusiasm of both groups in taking part in this important exercise. The passion and commitment to improving the club and its on field performance was
heartening and I look forward to working with both groups as we move forward into the 2019 season. The player’s feedback and suggestions are going to be an important as the Committee develops its 2019 Season Plan. Work on this will begin immediately after the 2018 Annual General
Meeting in October and will be shared with all members before the end of the year.
Junior Club:
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been fortunate to be able to represent the Club in attending both the Colts’ Dinner and the Junior Presentation Day. At the Colts’ Dinner I was able to see and listen to a number of the young men that will be a part of our Under 19s side next year. The obvious
fun and enjoyment that they gain from each other is a testament to the work that the Junior Club has done throughout their football careers to date. I look forward to seeing most of these young men as part of the Senior Club as they continue their careers in the blue and gold.
At the Junior Presentation Day, I presented two Encouragement Awards on behalf of the Senior Club. These are awards that we have given, in consultation with the coaches, for several years now recognising the playing and leadership potential of a young man and young women that we believe best epitomise the spirit of being a Bullant. This year the awards went to Dion Sivilioglou and Kaitlyn Bloomfield.

Sponsors:
We are currently undertaking a review of our sponsorship program with a view to enhancing the mutual benefits that the Club and our sponsors can get from these relationships. I would particularly like to thank this year’s major sponsors for their generosity and support throughout the year. Sammic Australia (www.sammic.com.au), Toscano Plumbing
(www.toscanoplumbing.com.au)and Money Quest Blackburn (www.moneyquest.com.au), that have all signed up to continue with the club until the end of the 2020 season, and to the Harp of Erin Hotel (www.harpoferin.com.au) and Furphy (www.furphybeer.com.au). If you have the opportunity to support any of these sponsors, please do so and make sure that you mention the Bullants.

2018 AGM:
This year’s AGM will be held on Monday 22 nd October starting at 7.30pm in the upstairs private room at the Harp of Erin Hotel in Kew. All members and supporters are encouraged to attend to have their say in how the club is run.